Hogwarts: Don't call me Wandmaker

Chapter 234 Hagrid's Whimsical Ideas

After the lesson on protecting magical creatures ended, Celen didn't return to the castle with everyone, but stayed behind to ask Hagrid a few questions.

"Have I seen a cat in the Forbidden Forest?" Hagrid put the fire crab into a large iron bucket, straightened up and looked at Siron.

"Of course I've seen them, and there are quite a few cats in the Forbidden Forest... there are even several civet cats there."

“I’m talking about Tom, my pet. I’ve heard from other people that he seems to have recently wandered into the depths of the Forbidden Forest,” Celen explained.

“Tom…” Hagrid subconsciously pictured a grayish-brown cat, twice the size of its kind.

That cat had caused Ya Ya a lot of trouble before; he knew it all too well. Ya Ya's current habit of getting weak in the knees whenever he saw a cat was all because he was scared by it.

"I think I vaguely remember." Hagrid put the metal bucket aside and tried hard to recall. "Where was it again?"

“Oh right, in front of Luwei’s house…yes, right there!” Hagrid clapped his hands. “I didn’t see it clearly at the time and thought it was a dog. Now that I think about it, it was much more agile than a dog. It disappeared in the blink of an eye.”

“Louis… Cerberus?” Siren subconsciously raised his voice.

“Don’t worry,” Hagrid said, thinking that Celen was worried about the safety of his pet.

“The smallest animal in Luwei’s diet is a deer, so it certainly wouldn’t eat Tom.”

“No, you’ve misunderstood. Of course I believe Louie,” Celen said.

Okay, actually he believed Tom.

Normally, it would never get close to Cerberus's territory. The fact that it appeared nearby proves that the area is not particularly dangerous for it.

Thinking of this, Xilun breathed a sigh of relief.

Besides, Tom also has his scent, which the Cerberus will definitely be able to smell...

Siren wouldn't dare say that he and Cerberus Louie were particularly close, but at least they had fought side by side, so Louie would probably give him some face.

After receiving Tom's message, Sirius was relieved, at least he was certain that Sirius really hadn't done anything to it.

Siren and Hagrid carried the large iron barrel into the cabin together... or rather, Hagrid carried it alone while Siren followed behind.

"I've been wanting to ask you, where did you get those fire crabs?" Xiren looked at the two moving jewelry stands in the iron bucket and couldn't help but ask, "These guys aren't common. You couldn't have found them in the Forbidden Forest, could you?"

“Of course it wasn’t found in the Forbidden Forest,” Hagrid said. “It was a gift from Dumbledore on my birthday, and also to celebrate my exoneration and becoming a professor.”

Dumbledore?

Well, if it's a school, it's perfectly normal for him to be able to get fire crabs; there's nothing strange about it.

“The headmaster is very thoughtful; these two fire crabs are a perfect pair.” Xiren glanced at their tails under their shells and asked, “What are your plans now? Are you going to keep them in the Forbidden Forest?”

“That’s right, it definitely has to be placed in the Forbidden Forest,” Hagrid said happily. “And I’ve already found a place, a depression in the south of the Forbidden Forest, where two man-headed lion-bodied scorpion-tailed beasts live, which can protect them from bad guys.”

"A sphinx with a human head and a scorpion tail?" Xilun raised an eyebrow, as if he had just thought of something.

"Won't they fight each other?" he asked. "As far as I know, the Sphinx is classified as a Level XXXXX, one of the most dangerous magical creatures. They have quite a temper. Will they be able to accept a Fire Crab as a neighbor?"

"I think... it should be fine." Hagrid licked his lips, suddenly becoming inexplicably nervous.

"What's wrong?" Xilun asked.

"No, nothing," Hagrid stammered, seemingly preoccupied. "I was just curious why you asked... If you also want the gems from the Fire Crab, I can keep an eye out for you."

“No, I’m not interested in that,” Siren said. “But what you just mentioned—the head of a lion, the body of a scorpion…”

“Oh, I almost forgot the time.” Hagrid became even more nervous and, for the first time, interrupted Siren.

He looked up out the window. "Is it already so late? If you don't hurry back to the castle, you might miss dinner!"

A minute later, Xilun was already standing on the stone steps outside the wooden house.

He looked up at the sky... It wasn't as bright as before, but it wasn't as dark as Hagrid had described either. It was at most just before dusk, and it wasn't even dinnertime yet.

It wouldn't be too late for him to stay for another ten minutes or so.

Looking back, Hagrid had already hurriedly walked into the woods with the iron bucket in his arms.

Siren seemed to understand something... Could it be that Hagrid was already having some "inventive" ideas at this moment?
Otherwise, it would be hard to explain why he suddenly became so nervous.

However, by this time, Hagrid had already disappeared from Celen's sight, and Celen was no longer able to obtain any more useful information.

Unfortunately, I didn't get the exact location of the human-headed lion-bodied scorpion-tailed creature.

He sighed.

Most magical creatures of the XXXXX level can be used to create excellent wand cores, such as dragons and five-legged monsters...

The wand that Siren first made, which could use three spells at the same time, had its core made from a five-legged monster.

Aside from dragons, other magical creatures are extremely rare, almost impossible to find.

Siren waited a while longer, until dinner was almost ready to begin, but Hagrid still hadn't returned. Only then did he turn and head towards the castle.

Well, he can ask slowly. Hagrid won't keep avoiding him forever, will he?

Back at the castle, Sheren ran into Hermione, who was having dinner in the Great Hall. Hermione called out to Sheren and pulled a book out of her nearly bursting backpack.

"Here, this might be helpful to you."

"What?" Siren glanced at the cover... "The Book of Potions: The Magical Combination of Potions and Wands"

“This is a book about potions,” Siren said. “But I’m writing a paper on Transfiguration… Oh, wait, all magic has commonalities, I can definitely use the theories in this book as a reference!”

"Thank you, Hermione," said Sheren happily, "but how did you know I could use this book?"

“Because I saw you looking at this book in the library before… um!” Hermione suddenly covered her mouth, looking annoyed. “Oh, it’s nothing. I just suddenly saw this and thought you might need it.”

Xilun looked up suspiciously.

Hermione tensed up even more, her hand instinctively gripping the robe at her chest as she held the book. In the shadows, a section of a golden necklace seemed to be peeking out from around her neck.

"Really?" Xiren said with a smile, "You have a good eye, I can definitely use it."

"That's good," Hermione said, letting out a slight sigh of relief.

She's been so busy these past few days that her mind is all over the place. Just now, she accidentally let slip her biggest secret, but luckily, Xilun didn't notice anything amiss.

Otherwise, she really didn't know how to explain it to Professor McGonagall, since she had promised her at the beginning of the semester that she would keep it a secret.

Then, a mountain of toast and sausages appeared on the golden plates on the table, followed by bowls of stew and golden fried potatoes, the rich aroma instantly filling the entire auditorium.

“We’d better hurry, dinner has already started,” Celen said.

Hermione lifted her backpack with a jerk before following Siron into the Great Hall.

……

(End of this chapter)